Charles Leclerc Cautions Ferrari Fans: ‘Upgrades Not Enough to Win Races Until End of Season

Charles Leclerc alerts that Ferrari's recent improvement is ‘insufficient’ to ‘secure victories for the remainder of the season’

"Is this improvement sufficient to ensure race wins for the rest of the season? I believe not at this point, although we have made significant progress."

Charles Leclerc has cautioned that Ferrari must improve their performance to consistently compete with McLaren throughout the rest of the 2024 F1 season.

Leclerc secured his second win of the season by using a one-stop strategy, outpacing McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Prior to Piastri's second pit stop, Leclerc trailed by five seconds, underscoring McLaren's dominance at Monza.

Ferrari unveiled a major update for the Italian Grand Prix aimed at resolving their issues with car bouncing.

During the FIA press conference following the Monza race, Leclerc has advised Ferrari to "remain careful".

"We need to be careful," he mentioned. "Since Monaco, I believe we've experienced the four most challenging races of the season, as Monaco's track was particularly suited to our car back then. Monza is another unique and distinctive circuit."

"A track with many straight sections and few turns suited us well. We equipped a specialized rear wing for this race, which contributed significantly to our victory. Additionally, we implemented another upgrade that has narrowed the gap to McLaren. However, I believe it won't be sufficient to make our car the dominant force for the remainder of the season on different tracks."

“We still have plenty to accomplish, but I'm thrilled to have achieved this one in Italy.”

Even though Leclerc has faced challenges since the Monaco race, he is only 24 points behind Norris in the drivers' standings.

In the constructors' standings, Ferrari is trailing Red Bull by only 39 points.

However, Leclerc has tempered expectations, referencing similar discussions of a championship bid after his victory in Monaco.

“We performed exceptionally well this weekend, but Baku will likely present a completely different challenge, and Singapore will be different yet again. Therefore, we need to recalibrate our approach. We successfully adjusted from Monaco to Montreal, but as demonstrated, the transition between these two weekends was quite significant.”

"We experienced a few of the toughest races of the season as we tried to figure out the issues with our car. I'm optimistic that we won't have to endure several more challenging races moving forward, and I don't believe that will happen."

"However, it's crucial that both the team and the external expectations don't skyrocket from one race to the next, as that's not realistic."

"Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient to start winning races for the rest of the season? Not quite yet, but it’s a positive move forward."

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